South hopes to build on big King of the Hill win

It had all the makings of a classic rivalry game.

Great defense, hard hits, and an energized fan base. Park Hill and Park Hill South’s annual rivalry matchup did not disappoint those in attendance or those viewing the live television broadcast from home last week. Both teams now focus their attention on their next opponents this week after participating in one of the more dramatic King of the Hill matchups in recent memory which left the Park Hill South Panthers topping the Park Hill Trojans 13-7, a game in doubt going into its final minutes.

Fresh off their victory, Park Hill South (2-1) and head coach Mark Simcox will go on the road to William Chrisman (0-3) to take on a Bears team probably still reeling from a 47-20 beating by Liberty North in a game which was 47-7 at halftime. Park Hill (2-1) hopes to rebound as they host Truman (2-1) who comes off an embarrassing 54-3 loss to Blue Springs. In the meantime, coaches and players try to regain their composure after such an adrenaline rushing early-season rivalry game.

Park Hill South quickly drove down the field in their opening drive on the shoulders of running back Myles Hammonds, but Hammonds fumbled shortly before breaking the plane of the end zone which allowed Park Hill’s Gage Wright to recover it in the end zone. The only scoring highlight in the first half came on a 21-yard Anthony Arens touchdown reception midway through the second quarter putting Park Hill up 7-0, the score remained unchanged at halftime. Quarterback Tyler White had his best outing of the season going 11 of 18 passing for 134 yards on the night.

“We weren’t doing a real good job of consistently run blocking and they were shutting us down so we had to go with what works,” Park Hill head coach Greg Reynolds said.

While a hair-puller for those looking for a high scoring game, those who enjoy defense were treated to quite a game. Highlighting the defenses was a position usually getting little attention, the nose tackles. South’s Ron Anderson and Park Hill’s Ondre Pipkins fought double teams all night and still wrecked havoc on the opposing offenses, proving why they are some of the Metro’s top players.

The offensive stalemates continued into the third quarter before Park Hill South went on a five minute, 11 second drive which ended when Hammonds fumbled once again at the goal line, but instead of a Trojan recovery, South receiver Craig Scott was there to recover for the Panthers’ first touchdown. The recovery caused a slight controversy when replays later showed doubt to whether Scott’s foot was out of bounds when he recovered the ball. Nonetheless, the touchdown and extra point tied the game at 7-7 going into the fourth quarter. A steady dose of hard-nosed running from Hammonds, who ran for 170 yards on 40 carries, was complemented by an extraordinary 31-yard leap and grab by Scott on an eight minute clock-killing drive which eventually ended with a one-yard touchdown dive from quarterback Eddie Sola to put South up 13-7 after a missed extra point.

“We’re going to see that. As long as he (Hammonds) can carry it, he’s going to continue to get it because they’re eventually going to get tired and we’re going to find a soft spot,” Simcox said of the amount of carries his star running back.

With three minutes to play, Park Hill marched 50-yards on the ensuing drive deep into South territory, but on a fourth-and-thirteen play, faced with their final chance, came up short of the first down marker resulting in a turnover on downs.

“That’s a good football team, they’re a good defense. We got the ball three times within their 25 yard line and we don’t score,” Reynolds said. “You can’t do that.”

In a moment seven years in the making, South received the ball with under two minutes to play only needing to run the clock out in order to secure a 13-7 victory, their first against Park Hill since 2004. Sola took a snap and ran around the left end before cutting up-field, when he saw an opening. Sprinting down a Park Hill South sideline exploding in excitement, he wasn’t brought down until 78 yards later on Park Hill’s five yard line. The Panthers opted out of an additional score, allowing the remaining seconds to expire before a combination of players and students stormed the field in celebration.

“It means a lot because they are a very good program and it legitimizes what we’re trying to do as a program,” Simcox said. “Now we can talk about what we’re going to do moving forward, not just in week three against Park Hill because hopefully this isn’t going to be the biggest game we play.”